Lyons girls water polo steam is heading to state. Photo courtesy of Lyons Township
Postseason Roundup: Lyons water polo teams vault to state via sensational sectionals
By Jeff Vorva
Staff Writer
Anyone looking for thrills and close matches at the two Lyons water polo sectionals were out of luck.
Anyone rooting for the hosts, however, had a ball during that 24-hour stretch May 13 and 14.
The Lions boys crushed Riverside-Brookfield, 17-5, in the semifinals and St. Rita, 12-3, in the championship match.
The Lions girls kept the trend going at it whipped Lindblom, 16-2, in the semifinals and Mother McAuley, 20-7, for the title.
It’s back to the IHSA state quarterfinals for both squads.
The boys (28-2) face Naperville North in the quarterfinals at 8:15 p.m. Thursday at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, while the girls are slated to face Hersey at 7 p.m. Friday at Stevenson.
According to IHSA records, this is the 12th time the Lyons boys team has qualified for the final eight. The program has seven top-four finishes, including state titles in 2012 and 2015.
They finished second in the state last year, losing to Stevenson, 15-8, in the finals.
Jack Bradbury leads the Lions with 110 goals, while AJ Vitek has 70 and Jimmy Bolan 63.
This is the fifth time the girls (29-2-1) have reached the state quarterfinals. They have two state trophies, including a championship after finishing 35-0 in 2010.
Junior Emilia Mladjan has 141 goals, freshman Maya Mladjan has 103 and senior Novalee Roberto has 94.
The Lyons boys water polo team is aiming for a state title after finishing runner-up in 2021. Photo courtesy of Lyons Township High School
Boys gymnastics
Defending state champion Lyons took home its sixth state trophy in boys gymnastics as the Lions took third place in the state finals held May 14 at Hoffman Estates High School.
Palatine won the title with 164.85 followed by Lake Park with 158.45 and Lyons with 149.7.
Senior Randy Yonan took 13th in the all-around with a 51.7000.
The Lions took second place in 2017 and third place in 2002, 2014 and 2018.
Andrew co-op team junior Dylan Childs, who attends Sandburg, finished 29th in the all-around with a 45.
Stagg’s Shannon Lawler is looking to pick up two more medals in the hurdle events at the state track meet. Photo courtesy of Stagg High School
Girls track
An army of area athletes will compete in the state meet, which opens Thursday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.
A healthy amount of state qualifiers were sectional champions last week.
At the Class 3A Hinsdale Central meet, Stagg’s Shannon Lawler won the 100 hurdles in 15.92. She also took second in the 300 hurdles in 46.73.
The North Central College-bound senior finished sixth in the state in the 100 hurdles and 10th in the 300 hurdles in 2021.
Sandburg’s Carrington Landers won a title at Hinsdale Central in the 200 in 25.72. Teammate Riana Wolf won the triple jump with a leap of 36-5.75.
At Proviso East, Mother McAuley’s Evelyn Rowan won the 800 in 2:25.70.
Shepard freshman Kyla Motley won the 100 hurdles in 16.17, barely edging out Marist’s Grace Misiunas’s 16.18. Astros teammate Chloe Dunigan won the triple jump with leap of 35-8.25
Reavis junior Claudia Conner won the shot put event with a throw of 39-6.75.
Marist sophomore Brenna Dunlap won the pole vault with a 9-9.
Richards’ junior Julia Niemeyer won a title in the long jump with a leap of 17-0.75.
In Class 2A, De La Salle freshman Samantha Soto won a De La Salle sectional title in the 3200 in 14:31.13.
At the Kankakee Sectional, Evergreen Park senior Kairah Fort won the high jump with a 5-2.25.
At Glenbard South, Nazareth senior Isabella Brunke claimed the long jump with a leap of 16-8.
Badminton
Lyons’ Aamina Qureshi ended her high school career by dropping a first-round game, then winning three straight before bowing out in the fourth round of consolation at the state meet, held last weekend at Hinsdale South High School.
Teammate Katie Wespa went 1-2 and the doubles team of Marri Carli-Elle Ownby finished 0-2.
Sandburg singles player Cindy Lim went 3-2 and bowed out of the tournament in the fourth round of consolation while Alexa Petcu finished 0-2. Petcu ad a tough assignment, drawing University High’s (Urbana) Andrea Li, who went on to win the tournament, in the first round.
Stagg’s Heba Rashid finished 1-2.
Local News
Icy spill yielded plenty of good will
Spread the loveBy Mary Stanek Your correspondent in Archer Heights and West Elsdon 3808 W. 57th Place • (773) 284-7394 Here is a giant shout out to our first responders in the community. On Jan. 9, when a sheet of ice descended on Chicago, I was walking the dog. Walking around Peck School was great.…
It’s a busy January in Gage Park
Spread the loveBy Joan Hadac Neighborhood correspondent at large Greetings, Gage Parkers! I’m pleased to be filling in this week for Karen Sala. It’s fun for me to report on Gage Park, the neighborhood where I lived for the first 26 years of my life. There’s always something happening in this big, exciting part of…
You can bank on good service here
Spread the loveBy Kathy Headley Your correspondent in Chicago Lawn and Marquette Manor 6610 S. Francisco • (773) 776-7778 In this world of corporate takeovers, it is kind of hard to feel safe in the hands of big business. First, we have to supply some of our personal information to the automated system. Then there’s…
Palos Park police to hold active shooter drill
Spread the loveFrom staff reports Palos Park Police will fine tune their strategies for dealing with an active shooter to ensure the safety of both officers and citizens later this month. The end goal of the January 30 drlll is to test the department’s active shooter response plans and fine tune them. “Palos Park effective…
Richards’ Principal walks 24 hours for a cause
Spread the loveBy Kelly White Most people spend New Year’s Day relaxing. Richards High School Principal Dr. Mike Jacobson spent it on the treadmill. For the second year in a row, Jacobson inspired generous donations of more than $20,000 on New Year’s Day by walking 24 hours on a treadmill without stopping. All of the money raised goes directly…
Victress Women’s Wellness Center sets goals for 2022
Spread the loveBy Kelly White Empowering women in the new year is Victress, a wellness center for women, in Palos Heights. The center opened in October at 7120 W. 127th St. and welcomed in the new year with a goal-setting seminar open to women in the local community called, Achieve 2022: This year set goals,…
Broadcast news — Palos Heights’ Channel 4 has big 2021
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva The first Palos Heights city council meeting of 2022 featured a few minutes of bragging about Channel 4’s success in 2021. The local cable channel had a record-breaking year and Alderman Jerry McGovern was more than happy to run down the happy totals at Tuesday’s board meeting at City Hall.…
Obituaries for Jan. 20, 2022
Spread the loveTHERESA M. BALDWIN Theresa M. Baldwin (nee Boxlietner), age 76, passed away December 12, 2021. Beloved wife of Richard Baldwin; loving mother of Michael Kresch, Kenneth Kresch, Crystal Nelson and Denise Baldwin; dear grandmother of Samantha Peters, Dennis Nelson, Devorie Nelson, Korin Leeth, Kayla Nelson, Kaylee Nelson, Travis Spagnola, Kyle Kresch, Sydney Kresch,…
Experienced bakers buy The Great American Bagel in Palos Heights
Spread the loveNew owners nearly double the menu for breakfast, lunch By Cosmo Hadac When The Great American Bagel’s shop in Palos Heights changed hands late last year, the new owners who walked in the door weren’t exactly new. Manny Rios Sr. and his wife, Silvia, have nearly 50 years of combined experience in…
New owner will keep Palmer Place name and burgers Copy
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Palmer Place Restaurant and Biergarten, a mainstay in downtown La Grange for nearly 40 years, will soon have new owners. But not much else will change. The name on 56 S. La Grange Road will still read Palmer Place. The employees now there will still have their jobs. And the…
Neighbors
State highway shootings decline as critics sue over ‘dragnet surveillance’
By JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com Illinois State Police say an automated license plate reader program has helped the agency identify witnesses or suspects in 82 percent of highway shooting cases this year, including all eight that resulted in a death. But as the state looks to further expand its network of more than…
Just weeks before Republican National Convention, Illinois GOP chair announces resignation
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com Halfway through the 2024 election cycle and just a few weeks away from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Illinois GOP Chair Don Tracy on Wednesday announced his resignation as head of the state Republican Party. Tracy, who’d held the job since February 2021, explained his resignation in…
As Illinois session ends, lawmakers’ attempt to reinstate wetland protections fails
by JENNIFER BAMBERG Investigate Midwest jennifer.bamberg@investigatemidwest.org In 2006, 19-year-old Jessica Whinston inherited 20 acres of land that her grandparents once farmed in Quincy, Illinois. The land had sat dormant since the 1980s and was overgrown, but Whinston and her husband Bradley worked to turn it into a productive farm. The couple were eventually able to…
Elections board dismisses illegal campaign coordination complaint, declines to clarify law
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – State elections officials on Tuesday indicated they were unlikely to step in to clarify what constitutes illegal campaign coordination after voting to dismiss a complaint alleging such coordination in the 2022 campaign for governor. At their monthly meeting in Chicago, Illinois State Board of Elections members…
Illinois’ ban on ‘bump stocks’ remains in place despite U.S. Supreme Court decision
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – An Illinois law banning the sale and use of “bump stocks” and other devices that increase the firing power of semiautomatic weapons remains in place, at least for now, despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision Friday striking down a federal ban on such items. “Illinois law…
Lawmakers pass on oversight vote for Pritzker’s prison closure, rebuild plan
By HANNAH MEISEL & DILPREET RAJU Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – For the last two decades, each time a governor has moved to close a large state-run facility like a prison or mental health center, a legislative oversight panel has voted on the plan. That changed on Friday – at least for now –…
‘We don’t really know what we’re voting on,’ top Dem says of Pritzker’s prison plan
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com LINCOLN – On the eve of a scheduled vote to advise Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration on plans to close and rebuild a pair of dilapidated state prisons, hundreds filed into a junior high school gymnasium Thursday evening clad in matching green T-shirts. Printed on the shirts was a…
Illinois child tax credit: who gets it, how much is it?
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com In the final hours of their spring legislative session, Illinois lawmakers approved a tax credit of up to about $300 for families with young children. The credit is available to Illinoisans with children under age 12 who qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. Although…
Members of House speaker’s staff sue over ongoing unionization conflict
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Members of a would-be union representing staffers in House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s office filed suit against their boss on Friday, asking a Cook County judge to force recognition of the union. The Illinois Legislative Staff Association, which formed in the fall of 2022, claims Welch’s…
Elections board urged to dismiss complaint that Bailey illegally coordinated in 2022 campaign
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois hmeisel@capitolnewsillinois.com A hearing officer is recommending the Illinois State Board of Elections dismiss a complaint that alleged conservative radio host and political operative Dan Proft illegally coordinated with former Republican state Sen. Darren Bailey during his 2022 campaign for governor. Proft, a one-time gubernatorial candidate himself, is behind an…